STAGING
This Mystery is out of date! Please proceed to Energizing Everything to see the updated version.
What makes roller coasters go so fast?

What makes roller coasters go so fast?
Scroll for prep
Full Screen
Controls Icon Exit Full Screen
Video trouble?

Discuss:

It seems like roller coaster cars can move without a motor.

Do you have any ideas about how they do this?

Full Screen
Controls Icon Exit Full Screen
Full Screen
Controls Icon Exit Full Screen
Video trouble?

Discuss:

The motor provides the energy needed for the roller coaster to climb the hill. But where does the energy come from that makes the roller coaster zip through the rest of the ride?

Full Screen
Controls Icon Exit Full Screen
Full Screen
Controls Icon Exit Full Screen
Video trouble?

Discuss: Which roller coaster is faster, the white one or the red one? How can you tell?

coasters

Reveal answer

Full Screen
Controls Icon Exit Full Screen
Full Screen
Controls Icon Exit Full Screen
Video trouble?
Full Screen
Controls Icon Exit Full Screen
Video trouble?
Full Screen
Controls Icon Exit Full Screen
Video trouble?
Full Screen
Controls Icon Exit Full Screen
Video trouble?
Full Screen
Controls Icon Exit Full Screen
Video trouble?
Full Screen
Controls Icon Exit Full Screen
Video trouble?
Full Screen
Controls Icon Exit Full Screen
Video trouble?
Full Screen
Controls Icon Exit Full Screen
Video trouble?
Full Screen
Controls Icon Exit Full Screen
Video trouble?
Full Screen
Controls Icon Exit Full Screen
Video trouble?
Full Screen
Controls Icon Exit Full Screen
Video trouble?
Full Screen
Controls Icon Exit Full Screen
Video trouble?
Full Screen
Controls Icon Exit Full Screen
Video trouble?
Full Screen
Controls Icon Exit Full Screen
Video trouble?
Full Screen
Controls Icon Exit Full Screen
Video trouble?
Full Screen
Controls Icon Exit Full Screen
Video trouble?
# Anchoring Phenomenon Connection

Discuss (1 of 2): Look at the "Wonder" column of your class See-Think-Wonder chart. Have any questions been answered by this Mystery?

Full Screen
Controls Icon Exit Full Screen
# Anchoring Phenomenon Connection

Look at the drawing of the Ok Go Rube Goldberg Machine.

Discuss (2 of 2):

What would happen if the height of a starting point was lowered?

What would happen if the height of a starting point was raised?

Full Screen
Controls Icon Exit Full Screen
# Conceptual Model Revision
Get a new Rube Goldberg Machine conceptual model worksheet and add your new learning from Mysteries 1 and 2.

  1. Draw a circle around all of the places energy is stored.

  2. Draw a box around all of the places energy is released.

  3. Label all of the places there is a high starting point.

Full Screen
Controls Icon Exit Full Screen
# Extensions

Below are ideas for extending this topic beyond the Exploration & Activity which you just completed.

Full Screen
Controls Icon Exit Full Screen
# Video: People-Powered Theme Park

An Italian restaurant owner had an idea. He wanted to build amusement park rides that were powered by the people riding them. Forty years later, his restaurant is famous for his homemade people-powered rides. To ride these rides, people have to put energy in by pedaling or pushing or climbing.

Take a quick tour and find out what it’s like to provide the energy for a ferris wheel ride in this short video.

Full Screen
Controls Icon Exit Full Screen
# Video: Meet a Roller Coaster Designer

Check out this short video from PBS Kids. Chris Gray decided he wanted to be a roller coaster designer when he was just 8 years old. Today, he has the job he dreamed of as a boy.

Full Screen
Controls Icon Exit Full Screen
# Activity: More Science with Marbles

In the Bumper Coaster experiments, a moving marble gave energy to the target marble and made it move. Your class can continue to explore what happens when marbles collide with a game of Ring Taw. To win this game, students have to figure out what will happen when one marble bumps another. You'll find instructions on how to play, a list of what you need, and a worksheet for students right here. Show your students how to shoot marbles with this video demonstration.

For more experiments with colliding marbles, check out this lesson from master teacher Melissa Romano. (For this lesson, students need to know the concept of mass.)

Full Screen
Controls Icon Exit Full Screen

Image & Video Credits

Mystery Science respects the intellectual property rights of the owners of visual assets. We make every effort to use images and videos under appropriate licenses from the owner or by reaching out to the owner to get explicit permission. If you are the owner of a visual and believe we are using it without permission, please contact us—we will reply promptly and make things right.

Lesson Image
red roller curve by Jeremy Thompson , used under CC BY
Exploration
rollar coaster by Jeremy Thompson , used under CC BY
Goliath front row by jonyboi55
blue Car by Arup Malakar , used under CC BY
cheetah by Marlene Thyssen , used under CC BY-SA
Goliath at Six Flags by Jeremy Thompson , used under CC BY
rollar coaster going uphill by Jeremy Thompson , used under CC BY
rollar coaster wheels by Boris23
rollar coaster motor by Dynamics of Amusement Parks
wood rollar coaster model by The Coaster Critic
Goliath on-ride by aerohead4
top of Goliath by Jeremy Thompson , used under CC BY
man riding bicycle by Stan Schwarz , used under CC BY-SA
bike lane by Elvert Barnes , used under CC BY-SA
hills by Eamon Curry , used under CC BY
cycling descent video by Collin Magnetti
fast skiing by Gor Vardanyan
skydiving by Hunter Lee
moon limb & troposphere by NASA
meteor by Ed Sweeney , used under CC BY
Dragon Khan and Shambhala by Sotti
Activity
penguins by Liam Quinn , used under CC BY-SA
pen by JohannPoufPouf
bumper cars by Jermey Miles , used under CC BY-SA
bumper cars in line by Ronald Saunders , used under CC BY-SA
alligator by Experience Kissimmee, Florida , used under CC BY
marbles by Haragayato , used under CC BY-SA
Credits

Activity Prep

Print Prep
To view a revised version of this lesson, please click here.
In this Mystery, students will explore how energy can be stored as height. In the activity, they will investigate how hills give roller coasters energy by experimenting with a model “bumper coaster.”
Preview activity

Step 1: Decide how many bumper coasters your class will make and use.

We recommend one bumper coaster for every 3 students. Each group of 3 will need a floor space measuring about 6’ X 3’.

If you’re worried you don’t have enough space, you could do this activity as a demonstration or set up a station with a single bumper coaster that students can experiment with in groups of 2 or 3 over a few days.

Step 2: Get supplies and print worksheets.

Note that students will re-use the foam tubing and marbles in Mystery 3.

For each group of 3 students building a bumper coaster, you need:

  • a 3-foot-length of foam pipe insulation (for ¾-inch pipe) -- available on Amazon (order 1 package for up to 12 students, 2 packages for up to 24 students etc.). The insulation is also available at most hardware stores (e.g.,Lowes, Home Depot). The insulation comes in 6-foot and 3-foot lengths. (A single 6-foot length will make two bumper coasters.)
  • 4 small marbles (⅝” is the standard size). The foam track and marbles that you get for this lesson will be used again in the next two lessons.
  • a stack of books or a box to make hill that’s 12” tall
  • a 24” strip of masking tape
  • a ruler
  • scissors
  • a paper or Styrofoam cup

Each student will need:

Step 3: Before class, cut each 3-foot-length of foam pipe insulation lengthwise.

This takes about 15 minutes for 7 bumper coasters.

You’ll need a cutting board and a sharp knife (like a steak knife or a jackknife). This video shows you what to do.

Exploration

15 mins

Hands-On Activity

45 mins

Extend this lesson

Download this Lesson to your device so you can play it offline: